Wristcutters: A Love Story
by Insanity-Plus
Summary: After his ex breaks up with him, Ichigo decides to commit suicide. But he learns that the afterlife for people who off themselves is a lot like the world of the living, only a bit worse. When Ichigo learns his ex has also off'd herself he sets out on a quest to find her. Along the way he meets Rukia, who shows him that even though they're dead they can still live. IchiRuki! R&R!
1. Part One

**Hey everyone! I know, I've been gone for so damn long…but I have a good reason! If you don't follow me on DeviantART or Facebook then you wouldn't that my novel, Dehumanized, has been released! Woo! I've been very busy promoting and doing guest posts and interviews, so Fanfiction has fallen to the wayside. I don't like that, since I love Fanfiction and I don't want it to be gone from my life. **

**There will be a lot less of me here, but I'm still here I promise!**

**Now, for this story. This will be a three-shot (three chapters) that will be posted throughout the next few days. This is based on a movie that I truly and dearly love, called **_**Wristcutters**_**. It's not a big time movie, more of a cult kind of thing, but it deserves all the attention it can get. I love it so much I decided to write a FF about it with the Bleach characters. It's a lot like with **_**Potentia De Mens**_**, but with a different movie. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with the Anime/Manga. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump Magazine. Nor do I own the plot to Wristcutters or any of the songs used within this Fic. Please support the official release.**

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_Wristcutters: A Love Story – Part 1_

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Ichigo lied there, shirt stained and eyes red, looking up at the ceiling with an expression of disinterest, listening to the white noise emitting from the old record player that was at the time spinning but not playing any song. He really didn't care today. Today he couldn't have given a shit about the record he was damaging or the empty soda cup that was sticking out from his pillow. He just didn't care, because after today, it wouldn't matter.

Nothing would matter. Ever again.

He turned to his side to face the spinning record; staring at it with that same blank expression he had shown the ceiling. He remembered loving that record growing up, loving it as a child, a teenager, a young adult, and even last week. He used to love a cretin song from that record, but right now he couldn't remember the name of it, just where to place the needle.

He slowly reached out and picked up the needle, stopping the buzzing noise that was playing through the speakers. He positioned the needle in a new spot, one closer to the beginning of the track, and placed the needle down just right. Sound crackled through the accent speaker before a soft melody of a guitar flowed through the room, through him, evolving the space from complete despair to a peaceful melancholy.

He rolled out of bed, using the wall of the closet to pull him up. He took one step away from his bed, walking over piles of clothes and trash. He scanned the room, clothing falling out of drawers and littering every flat surface. The desk in the corner had old bento boxes that he had eaten long ago covering the surface, a few chocolate wrappers on the floor around it.

He grabbed the hem and looked down at his stained shirt, grimacing at the brown stain near the neck. What the hell was that? He let go to scan his room once more for clean clothes. None.

Without much complaint, Ichigo started picking up a pile of pants and other clothes from the floor to wash. He found clothing in the oddest places, in desk drawers, on lamps, and in the tub of the connected bath.

After clearing out his clothes he retrieved a garbage bag that he filled with empty cans and other thrash from around the room. He organized the book shelf and made his bed, wiped down the desk and standing lamp in the middle of the room and even went as far as cleaning the cheap picture he had on the wall for decoration. Watered the dying plants he had never even liked all that much and vacuumed for the first time in months.

Everything was clean, perfectly spotless, and in it's rightful place.

Why? Because it was a need for perfection. It was a need to move around and leave behind something other than waste. Ichigo wanted things to be right for once, even though on inside things still felt so wrong.

He dressed in one of his nicer white button up shirts and a pair of clean jeans. Combing his fingers through his spiky orange hair, Ichigo took a look around the room. He couldn't remember a time when his room was this clean. This spotless. Looking out the blinds of the window he stood next to, Ichigo thought that it looked nice outside. It was done now and he deemed it was time.

He took a few steps back to enter his small bathroom, marveling at the cleanliness of it after so long of the opposite, and took a good look into the mirror. He stared at his reflection for a few good moments, noting the bags under his eyes and how his usually tanned skin seemed so sallow and pale. Without looking at what he was doing, Ichigo started the water and let it fill up in the sink. His hand slid across the surface of the sink until his fingers came in contact with something cold, thin, and metal, and grasped it firmly in his hand. Slowly he slid it over his wrist and lower arm, ignoring the pain he felt. He repeated his actions several times, feeling himself get a little dizzier with every movement. The sound of water dripping and small splashes, accompanied by his heavy breathing and the faint sound of music from the next room was the only sound in the entire apartment.

He looked at himself in the mirror, skin even paler than before. His eyes were hazed; the once soulful brown now a dulling gray. He looked down into the sink for the first time, seeing the over flowing blood that filled it. He felt dizzy at both the sight and fact that he was still losing blood. He was unable to keep his footing and was unable to keep himself from falling over.

Lying there on the cold tile floor, his blood spilling quickly and gathering around his abused arms, he thought about how much this hurt. It felt like there was fire igniting under the skin of his arms. But it didn't matter, he told himself, because it would soon be over.

And then he saw it. A little ball of dust gathered in the corner of the room.

He had wanted the house to be clean on this day.

Damn.

[–]

_I think she cried at my funeral. It's not like I'm conceited or anything, but I'm pretty sure._

_Sometimes I can picture her, talking about me to some guy she fills really close to. Talking about me dying. About how they lowered me into the grave all pathetic and shriveled up, like a melted chocolate bar or something. About how we never actually got a chance, and then the guy fucks her real nice, a fuck that's all about making her feel better._

[–]

Ichigo pulled the chain to flush the toilet. He readjusted his pants and the apron he had to wear, and stared at the broken mirror that disfigured his reflection that was taped to the wall. Ichigo stared at the waving image of himself for only a second longer before turning on the old faucet to the dingy sink and began cleaning his hands as thoroughly as he could.

He adjusted the white rag headband around his forehead, red words scrolled around the center, and made sure it didn't fall in his eyes.

[–]

_Soon after I died I got a job here at the Kamikaze Pizza. It's not a great job, but it will do for a while. The manager was cool enough to hook me up with a place to live too. With this guy, Omaeda._

[–]

"Did it again Ichigo." Omaeda, a rather portly and tall guy said as he stormed out of the bathroom and into Ichigo's room, staring at Ichigo who was lying on his cheap bed, reading an old book he had read one too many times before.

"Did what?" He asked while turning away from his boring book to give Omaeda a blank stare.

"Don't play dumb," Omaeda said angrily. "You promised. If you're going to live in this apartment, you have to sit while you piss." He explained with all seriousness.

Ichigo had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I forgot."

"How in the world do you forget something like that? Huh?"

Ichigo just shrugged, wanting to go back to his book but knowing the large man's confronting him wouldn't let him do so any time soon. He ignored Omaeda's marathon of 'sit, sit, sit' until the man had finally sighed, realizing he wouldn't get his point across, what ever his point may have been, and left the room sulking.

[–]

_Who could think of a better punishment really?_

_Everything's the same here, it's just…a little worse._

_I've though about suicide again, but I haven't tried it. I don't want to end up in a bigger shit hole than this one._

_Yeah, I was missing Orihime. I even had a feeling that this whole suicide thing just made me miss her and love her even more. But, who knows?_

[–]

"Maybe you just need a drink." The older bartender suggested while placing a beer bottle on the bar Ichigo was sitting at. He took it without a word and right away began drinking. Loud music that he didn't care for was playing and there was an echo of pool balls being hit. He looked around the bar, not knowing what to expect. He never really had gone out before now.

Everything was dull with colors of faded brown and gray, depressing. The people sitting around looked just as sullen. It was all very depressing. But Ichigo figured the bars in the living world actually weren't that different, so this place was the closest to home he could find.

"Hi," A soft feminine voice said from beside him. He whipped around to the second person to talk to that night and was met with a young strawberry blond woman with enormous breasts. "Listen, my friend Nel and I," She said gesturing to a green haired girl with equally enormous tits sitting at a small table. "We play this game where we try and guess how people off'd themselves. We were just guessing about you. How you do it?" she finally asked and stared Ichigo down, waiting for an answer.

Ichigo was surprised by this woman's boldness. Most people here kept to themselves, so it was a shock to see someone so determined in a place like this. He took a quick gulp of his drink before placing it down and pulling his sleeves up a little to show Rangiku his wrist. She attempted to smile bitterly and turned back to her friend and called out.

"Three points for me." She said. Nel gave her an un-amused look.

"That's an extremely rude question to ask." Ichigo stated and gained Rangiku's attention once again. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he had been lonely since he arrived here and a conversation, be it with a stranger, was what he really needed.

"Precisely," Rangiku said sadly. Her eye was squinted slightly, as if she wanted to cry, but didn't. She shook her head quickly and gave a snap of her tongue. "That's what the game is all about."

As she started to walk away, Ichigo began to mutter to himself, not realizing what he had said out loud.

"What about you?"

Rangiku stopped, spun around, making her hair fly with the movement, and in a sweet voice replied, "Me?"

[–]

In a nice kitchen were sweet wooden carved cherry cabinets, stainless and free of food. Light shone through the small window above the stove, leading a path downwards to a sight that would be found later that day. The stove was running, door opened, and a young strawberry blond girl lay there, not moving an inch. On the small kitchen table was a note:

_Are you sorry now?_

[–]

"No, no, no, no." Ichigo said quickly, putting down his beer and pointing at man sitting at the bar. He was now seated with the two blondes' and as much as he hated to admit it, their little sick game was kind of fun. "Look at him, his skin is all saggy. It was defiantly drowning."

"No, I'm telling you," Rangiku shook her head quickly and pointed to her cheek. "Look at the blue-ish face. It has to be gas."

As both Rangiku and Ichigo shook their heads at one another's ideas, Nel leaned over the table. "Go over their and ask him." She said towards Ichigo. He started to get up until he saw the man staring at him darkly, and retook his seat.

"I don't know about this one, he seems…ill-humored."

Suddenly there was a grunt and a light whack on Ichigo's arm and he turned around to see a male around his age with long red hair tied in a spiky pony-tail behind his head and a white bandage tied around his forehead.

"Why don't you try guessing me?" He offered, a little drunken. When the girls didn't answer, the guy picked up his chair and moved to sit at the table with them. "I bet you girls a beer you won't guess." He said cockily as he eyed both of the girls' chests.

Nel gave him a look before turning to the door, "Oh, Rangiku, look who's here." She said pointing with her beer to a man who had just walked in. Rangiku made an excited noise before getting up with Nel, murmuring that she would be back before leaving.

"I'll tell you something," The guy across from Ichigo said as he lit a hand rolled cigarette. "When a girl says she'll be right back, write her off right then." Ichigo quirked a brow at the guy for his assumptions. He wasn't attempting to get laid, if that's what he was assuming. "They always end up leaving with some retarded dumb guy."

Ichigo agreed with the statement and agreed even more when he saw Rangiku wave to him as she and Nel left with a few guys. It wasn't easy to find a good girl anymore, even less now that he was here.

He took another swig of his beer as the guy across from him began packing a few papers with tobacco from a zip lock bag.

"So, what was it?"

"What was what?"

"How did you, you know…" He paused, trying to remember how Rangiku had put it. "Off yourself?"

"Aw, well…"

[–]

He stood in the front of a stage, sweat beading down his face from the lights above him. Behind him a band was playing a heavy melody as he sang into the mic. When the song was over, he was met with criticism from his small audience.

"You suck."

"Really suck."

"Get off the stage."

He looked out at the small pathetic crowd he had and thought about his life. Pathetic it was too.

"Fuck it all." He held his beer bottle out in a non-cheer and gulped down half of it before pouring the rest onto the electric guitar he had strapped to his body.

[–]

"You off'ed with a guitar." Ichigo repeated a little skeptically.

"Hell yeah. On stage and everything. Iggy Pop, he almost came to see that gig."

[–]

Ichigo washed his hands, glaring at the wannabe mirror and bright yellow sign that was always there to remind him to wash. He dried his hands and bunched up the soiled paper towels and threw them away.

Exiting the bathroom with a sigh, he immediately went back to the pizza that was waiting to be cut. He was distracted with his own thoughts, and when he placed the cutter to the pizza he pressed a little too hard and the whole thing tipped over and fell to the ground. He looked around to see if anyone had seen and when he deemed it safe he quickly gathered the pizza off the floor and put it back on the tray. He took a cut slice and placed it on a paper plate. He didn't see big deal; it wasn't like it could kill someone to eat it.

[–]

A few weeks passed, weeks of going out with Renji, his new and only friend, and getting drunk. Weeks of late nights with rolled cigarettes and dirty bars. And worst of all, weeks of thinking of his old life with Orihime.

As he lied in bed, he could practically hear their old conversations. About living together, being together, and the amount of fun they had with each other. How much they loved each other…

It had also been these weeks that built his and Renji's friendship. He had told Renji all about Orihime, and in return Renji attempted to get him laid.

As they reached Renji's shitty old car he started again. "Tonight when we go out, you need to promise me-"

"No. Renji I'm not going out tonight, or any other night." Ichigo said quickly.

Renji stopped unlocking the car. "Why?"

"It makes me depressed to go out."

Ichigo stared at his friend and he stared back at Ichigo. "So what you gonna do. Kill yourself?"

"…I don't know. Maybe."

"As if anything could make you happy."

Orihime had made him happy, because she loved him. More so than any of the women Ichigo had ever been with before. But Renji was right. What was he going to do? Killing himself again, that wouldn't make him happy. That wouldn't take him back.

[–]

Without a knock or warning, his bedroom door opened and Omaeda stomped into the room as he always does. "You ate the last of my cottage cheese!" Ichigo didn't answer, making Omaeda madder. "Ichigo, did you eat my cottage cheese?"

"Calm down Omaeda. I'll buy you some cottage cheese." Ichigo said, resisting the urge to sigh.

"That's not the point! I was planning to have some right now!"

Ichigo lost the fight and sighed; he was not in the mood for this. "Don't you have a plan B or something-?"

"You do this all the time!" Omaeda threw the empty container of cheese at Ichigo's head. "You stupid, selfish, ignorant-"

"Alright! Alright!" Ichigo yelled back as he rolled out of his bed. "I'll go get some more cottage cheese."

[–]

Ichigo opened the freezer and picked a random container from the bunch, checked the date, and threw it uncaringly into the little basket he had. Closing the freezer door, Ichigo was ready to leave when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

"Holy crap, Ichigo!"

The orange haired man turned, and his eyes widened slightly. "Keigo?" He asked the mostly familiar face with a large, new scar running up the side. Keigo held his hand out and Ichigo didn't hesitate to shake it.

"I was hoping we'd run into each other soon." Keigo said.

"What…what are you doing here?" Ichigo asked as they separated.

Keigo shrugged. "The same as everyone else. Only it's got a little something to do with you."

"Oh yeah? You come all the way here to get the two-hundred dollars I owe you?" Ichigo dryly quipped.

"Haha, you always were a joker." He said non-amusedly. He pointed at Ichigo to get his point across. "You know how people say suicides happen in three? Well, there's something to that. Hey is this cheese any good?" He said grabbing the container from Ichigo basket and looking it over.

"Um, my roommate likes it but-"

"You know, when people start offing themselves around you, you start asking yourself 'what makes you so different?', 'what's keeping me alive?' And then it hit me," He hit himself with the cheese before tossing it back at Ichigo's basket. "Like a mallet. I don't have the answer…too much sodium. But I think it was Orihime's suicide that really hit me."

Ichigo froze. Orihime…was here?

"Orihime's what?"

"Yeah, Orihime. She off herself about a month after you. I thought you would have known that."

"No," Ichigo's mind was racing. Orihime, Orihime, Orihime, Orihime! She died. She off'd herself. She was here!

Before he really knew it, Ichigo was running out the store, basket forgotten on the ground as he ran through the doors.

"Hey, I still want that two-hundred you owe me!"

[–]

"So, I'm saying I got a pretty good idea she's not in the city." Ichigo said while packing a duffle bag. Renji was sitting on a fold out chair while drinking a beer watching as Ichigo paced back and forth. "Call it intuition, or whatever. Worst cause scenario, we just take a ride right?"

Renji almost choked on his beer. "We?"

The two friends stared each other down until Ichigo sighed. "Alright then."

As Ichigo tried to finish packing Renji shot up and stopped him. "Let me get this straight. Since you got here how many times have you gotten laid?"

"Why?"

"Just a question."

Ichigo sighed, averting his eyes and hoping that Renji would step down. "Like really got laid, for real? Renji nodded, giving him a 'duh' look. "None, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, your sperm count is so fucking high you think you're having an out of body experience that nobody in the fucking universe knows."

"Renji," Ichigo pushed past him to grab his coat off the wall. "Sperm count, outer body experiences, I mean really? Listen man just let me borrow the car; you won't have to do anything."

"Why are you so touchy all of a sudden? All I said was that it not good enough reason for me to go." Renji defended himself.

Ichigo sighed, zipping up his bag. "You know what? Forget Orihime, I have another reason for you to go."

Renji gave him an unbelievable look before shrugging. "Give it shot."

"You got anything better to do?"

[–]

Driving down a nearly empty highway road, tires squealing, they drove out of town and into a nearly disserted landscape. As they drove out of town, Ichigo leaned out the window to look at his surroundings properly. It was his first time out of the city, and seeing as how Renji was hanging his head out the window, despite the fact that he was driving, it must have been his first time as well.

They drove towards the mountains, having to pass high drops and dark tunnels on the way. When they passed through the tunnels, Ichigo noticed something peculiar.

"So, what's the big deal?" Ichigo said as they exited the dark tunnel. "The headlights don't work."

Renji shook his head and took a long drag of his cigarette. "You won't believe how many times I've tried to get them fixed."

Ichigo stared at his friend's profile, a little peeved. "You tell me this now? This means we can't drive at night; at all." He said sighing. "Well just stop somewhere for the night and get it fixed then. It's on me, I'll pay for it."

"If you insist," Renji said as Ichigo took a gulp of his beer. Seeing so Renji spoke up again. "But I bet you a beer it can't be fixed."

"Let's get music." Putting down his beer Ichigo grabbed a small plastic box of cassette tapes. The car had no radio of it's own but there was an old radio seated between the two front seats. Ichigo looked at the old cassette tapes and scanned the names, not knowing a single one. Who even had cassette tapes? "What are these, they work right?" he was about to take out a tape when he lost his grip on the box and the tapes fell to the floor. He leaned down as far as he could, his hands blindly searching and coming up empty. The tapes must have fallen under the seat.

"Oh shit." Renji muttered beside him. Ichigo looked to him curiously.

"What?"

"Anything that falls under that seat is gone forever."

"Is there a hole or something?" He asked, feeling his hand around the bottom of his seat trying to find it.

"Yeah." Renji said before shaking his head. "No…well kinda. More like, I guess you could say black hole. Or, a – a Bermuda Triangle. You know, things just, uh, disappear."

Ichigo stared at him like he was crazy before attempting to look under his seat again. He couldn't see a 'black hole' as Renji had put it, but he did find one tape that had survived. He held it up to Renji questioningly; only receiving a disgusted look and small head shake.

"It's not very good."

"What is it?" Before even getting an answer, Ichigo started putting the tape in the player.

"It's my old band. Had it in my pocket when I off'd." Renji unzipped his coat, deciding it was too hot outside for one and instructed Ichigo to hold the wheel while he stripped. The music started and Renji retook the wheel, scrunching his nose. "Even worse than I remembered."

"What are you talking about? I like it."

_**When there's a trap set up for you,**_

The day went by rather fast.

_**In every corner of this town**_

They replayed the song through their drive, seeing as how they both agreed it could be listened to.

_**And so you learn the only way to go is underground**_

Had a few beers and stopped for burgers.

_**When there's a trap set up for you**_

Night was quickly on its way.

_**In every corner of your room**_

Lucky, during the evening a mechanic shop was spotted up ahead.

_**And so you learn the only way to go is through the roof'**_

"Ganju's car shop." Renji read aloud as they drove past a piece of wood with the name taped to it.

"Perfect timing, huh?"

"I bet you a beer they can't fix it."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You're on, man."

[–]

A young boy in his late teens or early twenties leaned over the engine of the car. He had long dark hair and deep bags under his eyes. The hood was popped open and he was careful not to hit his head as he pulled a piece out of the car.

"Ok, um, it's broken. B-but I'm not sure what it is that's wrong." He stuttered as he held the piece he had just removed. "But Ganju… Ganju is my boss. And he's an absolute genius, and he'll get this fixed for you." He pushed the car part into Ichigo's hand before awkwardly running off to the door.

Renji snorted loudly once the boy was gone. "I'm telling you, they aren't going to be able to fix it."

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "You're just a pessimist." He said.

"This coming from you?" Renji raised a brow at the orange haired man, who just shrugged left Renji at the door, walking back to the car to wait for the mechanics. Renji shook his head one last time before entering the shop again, being met with the young boy from earlier pushing a wheel chair that held an older man with long unruly hair with a green bandana wrapped around his head.

"Oh shit, looks like we'll gonna be sleeping here tonight." Renji muttered.

"What do we got here?" The man asked as he was pushed up to the car. "Hey Hanataro, why don't you go start this thing up?" He instructed and the teen was already on his way to the seat. As the boy started the car up, the man set his hand on the hood, feeling the vibration of the engine.

The man sucked in a slow, calm breath, and then spoke, "You need an exhaust system, vale got to be august, and listen to the fuel pipe in there…" He trailed off as he closed his eyes.

"No, no, no, no. We just wanted to get our headlights fixed." Ichigo started, but was quieted by Hanataro as the young boy waved his arms at him.

[–]

The bubbling hot tub was red with blood. On one end was an older dark haired man, his usual green bandanna long gone, the other a younger dark haired boy with sunken eyes. Their hands met in the middle, grasping each other tightly.

The sound of the door opening could be heard a little ways off, a woman's voice calling out into the background.

"Honey? Are you home? Honey?"

Just as the back door was opening, the two hands slipped apart, just like they had done so many times before.

[–]

Hanataro stood there with the closest thing to a smile he could muster. He wanted to laugh and at the same time he wanted to cry as he looked at Ganju, sound a sleep and looking peaceful.

"He hasn't slept a wink since we got here." He felt the need to inform the two about his joy. He breathed loudly, a happy, relieved sound and clapped his hands softly. "We'll fix the headlights by tomorrow."

[–]

Ichigo threw his head back on the hard seat of the car, squinting when the bright light of the sun shone through his closed eyes. He was more uncomfortable than he had been in weeks.

Deciding that there was no possible way he would be able to sleep any longer, Ichigo sat up, ripped away the coat he had been using as a blanket, and went for Renji's glove box. He opened the box to pull out Renji's sunglasses. He was sure the other wouldn't mind. He unfolded the vintage glasses and attempted to put them on as the sun blinded him. He felt the glasses slip from his fingers and he knew that they were gone the second they hit the ground. They had fallen into the black hole to never be seen again.

He let out a frustrated sigh and a muted curse as he fell back against his seat. Damn. Renji stirred next to him. He sat up, stretching slightly before pulling a cigarette out and placing it between his lips, lighting it.

"Damn shift stick," Renji muttered grumpily as he readjusted himself in his seat. "This is the last time I sleep in the car." Ichigo groaned in agreement and closed his eyes, trying to block out the sun. Renji released a stream of smoke. "Where's my shades?"

Ichigo sat up to give Renji an apologetic look. "I, uh, I dropped them."

Renji let out a frustrated noise and rested back in his seat. "Man, I told you to be careful 'bout that. Goddamn it."

"I know, sorry. I didn't mean to drop them but it's bright as shit Renji."

Renji let his head fall to the steering wheel as he fumed. Ichigo shook his head and opened the door to the car. "I gotta' take a piss." He said, moving to step out of the car. It was too late by the time he realized his feet touched nothing but thin air before he found himself falling hard four feet down to the ground. Renji raised a brow and crawled over the seats to see Ichigo lying on the dirt and his car suspended in the air by a fork lift.

"The hell?!" Ichigo growled, getting up to nurse the throbbing bump on the side of his head. Ganju had parts of the headlights in his hands as Hanataro too moved pieces apart.

"Mornin' boys." The mechanic said while looking over the parts. "Nothin' like a good night sleep." Ichigo stared in horror at the man as he jumbled the items in his arms. "Well, not fixed yet, but give me a few days and I'll get it working. Once and for all and forever."

"That's how he does it." The teen piped in. "Once and for all and forever."

Ichigo frowned at the two, turning back to the car to gape.

"Looks like you owe me first beer of the day." Renji said, taking a long drag from his cigarette.

[–]

"I told you man, no one can fix the headlights in this car."

They were on the road again, flying past desert landscape at close to forty miles an hour. Renji was steering with his knees as he rolled a smoke, licked it closed, and put it between his lips to smoke it. Beside him, Ichigo had fallen back asleep.

"Can't believe you lost my shades." Renji said while blowing smoke to the half awake man next to him. Ichigo ignored him and tried going back to sleep. "Holy shit," Renji muttered suddenly, to which Ichigo groaned.

"What?"

"Check it out," Renji said, jutting his chin forward at something.

Ichigo opened his bleary eyes and sat up, peering out the windshield to see a person walking along the edge of the road. The person was short in stature, a head of what appeared to be raven colored hair falling down to her – it was definitely a woman - chin level, a single band between her eyes. She was dressed in a faded purple hoodie, a bag strapped to her back. She looked at their car, watching it come closer to her as she walked backwards along the edge of the road. As they passed the person, she held out their hand with their thumb up. Hitch-hiker.

Renji slammed on the breaks, causing the car to skid to a stop, and Ichigo to fly forward. "What the hell Renji?!" Ichigo barked as he put his hands out to stop him from hitting the dashboard. Renji ignored the orange haired man's protests as he was already throwing the car in reverse.

He stopped next to the young woman, a year younger then him and Ichigo. Now that they were closer Ichigo could see her eyes were an odd shade of violet. She was very attractive, with a slender frame and modest perks. Renji threw her a grin and pointed to the back of the car. "Hop on in,"

The woman bent down to the window, her eyes glancing over Renji and then to Ichigo. "Where are you boys heading?"

"Uh, East-ish?" Ichigo asked Renji while trying to remember which way they were heading.

"East-ish?" The woman repeated. "You guys don't have a clue where you're going do you?"

"You must not have been here very long, have ya?" Renji asked.

"How do you figure?"

"'Cause if anyone here had a clue we wouldn't be here in first place."

She considered this answer for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "True." The woman stood to full height and opened the back door of the car. "I am pretty new. Actually, I've been hitch-hiking ever since I got here." She was now seated in the back with that old backpack in her lap.

"How come?" Ichigo asked, looking the girl down. She definitely was attractive, but was worn down. Her faded hoodie had a few little holes and rips and her pants were dirty with dust and sand. It was hard to say, but she must have been walking all day.

"I'm looking for the people in charge." She replied while rolling the window down and up until she was satisfied.

"People in charge?" Renji repeated. The woman nodded and brushed her hair out of her amethyst eyes. Ichigo stared at her for a moment but was snapped out of it when Renji put the car in drive. "Where do you think you are? Some kind of country club where you can just walk into the main office. Tell me please, when you were still living, did you ever try looking for God?"

"No," The girl in the back seat said while opening a stick of gum. "But I didn't have a reason to back then." Ichigo was watching her as she stuck the gum into her mouth.

"Why? Sorry you off'd yourself, or change your mind?" Renji asked while looking through the rearview mirror at the woman. "'Cause you know if that's the cause then-"

"Renji. Renji, stop it." Ichigo said as he turned away back in his seat. "What's your name?"

"Rukia." The woman replied. "What's your name?" She asked offering the two in the front seats a stick of gum.

"Ichigo," He said, taking the gum and popping it into his mouth. Peppermint. "Nice to meet you. Thanks." Renji didn't offer a name but took the gum. "So why don't you like it here?"

"Are you joking?" Rukia asked skeptically, giving him a look. "Do you guys like it here?" They didn't answer. Ichigo looked away, and Renji shrugged, but that was all the answer Rukia got. "Who the hell likes being in a place where they can't even smile? It's hot as balls, everyone's an asshole, and you can't find a decent clothing store for miles. Na-uh, I just want to go home."

Ichigo didn't have a response for that and so they continued to drive in silence.

* * *

**So, do you guys like it? This is something I've been working on for quite a while now, on and off again. I'm on the home stretch of finishing it, like literally five more pages, and then I have to edit the rest of it. I figured if I post the first part here then it would help give me incentive to finish. **

**I really hope you guys like this. I know I've been gone for a while, and I may keep disappearing, but know I'm still here and that I haven't forgotten you guys. **

**I'll come back with the second part in a few days. Promise!**

**REVIEW!**


	2. Part Two

**Hey, I'm back! Quick, right? I told you that this was almost done, so you guys won't have to wait very long to see the rest of this story. I wasn't lying!**

**I'm technically already done with this story, but I want to go through one last round of editing for the third part before posting it. I should have it up by tomorrow, or maybe the next day. I'm trying to keep it spaced out, not rush it, because I want to give each chapter a little bit of time to get attention before the next chapter comes up. So the next will come soon!**

**Oh, I forgot to say this in the last chapter because I had a million things going on at once when I was writing the Author's Notes, but I want to dedicate this story to a friend of mine here on Fanfiction. _zombiegirl22_ left me a very heart warming message about how she loved my novel, Dehumanized, and how she loves my Fanfiction stories and all that and had left a review on Amazon. It was really touching so I'd like to dedicate this story to her! **

**I hope you guys like the second part!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with the Anime/Manga. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump Magazine. Nor do I own the plot to Wristcutters or any of the songs used within this Fic. Please support the official release.**

* * *

_Wristcutters: A Love Story - Part 2_

* * *

'CAMPING STORE ALMOST LIKE NEW' read the sign posted in the dirt.

Three set of feet laid out the opening of the tent. Three bodies lied close together in the tent as they discussed.

"I don't know." Renji said at the end of the tent. Rukia squirmed a little between the two before settling down.

"I like it." She offered, putting her arms behind her head to relax.

"Better than sleeping in the car." Ichigo offered.

"Alright." Renji reluctantly agreed.

Ichigo pushed himself up and crawled out of the tent. "I'll go get the cashier." Ichigo went in search for some one working, leaving Rukia and Renji alone together in the tent.

To ease the silence, Rukia tried to make some sort of small talk. She pointed up to the little cut out of the tent.

"I like the window here-" She stopped once she felt a hand sliding over the front of her sweatshirt.

"Do you want to test it out?" Renji whispered into her ear huskily.

Rukia stared at the red haired man for a moment before sitting up. "I think I'm gonna go see how Ichigo's doing."

Outside the tent, Rukia could see Ichigo talking to the store owner. Beside the tent was a sign, the same sign with the store name. A smaller sign was placed above the other one, this one about shoplifting. When the owner left Rukia grabbed the sign and hid it behind her back.

[–]

The shoplifting sign was ripped in two and was keeping alive a good fire that they had made. It was dark now and they were forced to camp out at the bottom of a small ravine they had found on the side of the road.

Rukia lay on the ground, adjusting her shoulders to get comfortable as she stared up at the night sky. Nothing but blackness.

"I wonder if people who die normally end up with no stars." Ichigo and Renji sat on the other side of the fire, watching Rukia who lied spread out in the sand. "I really miss the stars."

"You get used to it." Renji said with a shrug.

Rukia flipped onto her stomach, pointing a finger at Renji. "I don't want to get used to it." She stated firmly. "I want to go home. This guy that gave me a ride the other day, he told about this rumor about the people in charge; apparently they wear white outfits or something-"

"That's a pile of shit." Renji cut her off, his face scrunched in disgust. "White outfits. He was just trying to get into your pants."

Ichigo stayed quiet, watching an unreadable look pass over Rukia's face.

"No he wasn't." Rukia stated. "He said he thought I had a really strong case."

"What makes you so special, if you don't mind me asking?"

"That I got here by mistake."

"Well we all got here by a mistake, one way or another. And believe me, you have as much of a chance in findin' your men in white, as he does in findin' his dead princess." He said, shifting his head at Ichigo who had still stayed out of the conversation.

"You don't know that." Rukia said frowning deeply. Renji shook his head, making some sort of noise that was negative. "You don't know. I bet he finds her."

Ichigo tipped his beer to Rukia in thanks. "Yeah, besides I have a hunch that she's close by."

"Even if she is, I bet she found someone by now." Renji said as he forced himself to his feet. "Probably some black guy that hung himself by his dick."

Ichigo glared at his friend as he walked away. "Wouldn't matter Renji." He called.

As Renji drifted away from sight Ichigo turned back to Rukia, who had been quiet for the moment. He shook his head clear at the look the girl was giving him.

[–]

_"You know…" Orihime said as she strung colorful beads through a fishing wire as they sat on the beach. "If you were to ever cheat on me…" She turned around in Ichigo's lap to face him. "Make sure you do it with someone really pretty." She held the beaded wire to Ichigo's wrist, deciding it had to be a few beads longer and went back to her creation._

_Ichigo glared at the bracelet, not liking the light pink color that Orihime was stringing along. "What the hell are you talking about? I wouldn't cheat on you."_

_"I know that, baby." She said, smiling softly at him before turning fully to kiss him. He smiled and kissed back._

[–]

Ichigo lazily opened his eyes. It was still dark but the dream he just had had fully awaken him. He opened his eyes completely and sat up with a grunt, not enjoying the sound the tent floor made when he moved.

Worrying that he had woken up the others he checked beside him. Renji was sound asleep at the end of the tent, drool running down his chin as he sprawled his arms above his head. In between the two of them was Rukia, on her side facing Ichigo and her thumb in her mouth.

He lied back down, facing Rukia this time. She looked cute with her thumb in her mouth, and at the same time it worried Ichigo. She was like a lost, scared little child, trying to huddle up and forget the horrible world around her.

After a few minutes Ichigo looked away, staring up at the tent's roof until he could fall back to sleep.

[–]

It was late morning when they woke up. The sun had shone through the light colored tent and it wasn't possible to sleep after that.

It was left to Renji to gather the tent, which he did rather lazily, while Ichigo got the pillows and Rukia made room in the trunk. Ichigo threw the pillow in the back seat and Renji roughly threw the bunched up tent into the trunk of the car.

Rukia huffed as she closed the trunk of the car, walking around to the driver's side. "Mind if I drive?" She asked, already getting into the driver's seat. "I'll get us there in half the time."

"Get us where?" Renji asked, furrowing his brow.

Rukia pointed towards the distance behind her, nothing but desert and mountains. "Over there."

"Oh, over there." Renji rolled his eyes but left Rukia to drive. He went for the front passenger seat but saw Ichigo was already seated. "I'm not sitting in the back." He stated, shaking his head.

Ichigo raised one of his brows. "Why not?"

"'Cause everyone knows the guy in the back doesn't have a cock." He stated.

Ichigo stared at him with mild disbelief. "What?"

"That's a fact." Renji insisted. "If the guy in the back seat had a cock he wouldn't be back there in the first place." He crossed his arms, looking at Ichigo to get his point across.

Rukia stifled a snicker from the driver's seat, shaking her head while popping in a piece of gum.

"Yeah well, I have a cock, man. So, I'm not…" Ichigo trailed off, indicating the back seat. He turned to Rukia. "Do you have a cock?"

"Yeah I have a cock." Rukia stated to Renji. "A big fat one."

Renji narrowed his eyes, his arms still crossed.

[–]

Rukia drove down the empty road, her right shoulder being cramped. Renji had still refused to sit in the back and had decided to force himself onto the small console between Rukia and Ichigo, leaving no room up front. The old tires of the car squealed as they drove, but was a nice relief to the static coming from the radio. Ichigo glanced at Renji, tired of the white noise that filled the car; he put in the little tape of Renji's band.

The music played as they cruised down the endless road.

_**'When there's a trap set up for you,**_

"I'm looking for the people in charge." Rukia tried to explain to a man in a police helmet. The sky was darkening, but still light enough for them to see for the time being. "I'm here by mistake; I've been looking for awhile…"

Ichigo leaned on the hood of the car, staying quiet as Rukia trailed off.

_**In every corner of this room,**_

Ichigo stopped a young man while Renji was a little ways off taking a piss on the side of the road shamelessly.

"Her name is Orihime, long dark orange hair." He tried to explain, not getting through to the obviously foreign man. "This tall?" He said, laying his hand flat a few inches shorter than him. "No?"

_**And so you learn the only way to go is underground,**_

"I'm not sure what you're trying to do is completely legal." The officer stated, removing his glasses to look more intimidating.

"Yeah, but can't you-" Rukia tried, but the officer raised a hand to cut her off.

"Let me see some ID."

_**When there's a trap set up for you,**_

Renji leaned against the car as he smoked. They were in a little trailer park now. He blocked out Rukia repeating her all too familiar story.

"…Trying to find the people in charge of this place because I've only been here for a couple of weeks and I'm here by mistake..."

He noticed that at every stop Ichigo was right at Rukia's side.

_**In every corner of your room,**_

"Did I show you, that thing?" Ichigo asked as he wrapped his arm around Rukia's. He started pulling the young woman, semi unwilling, away from the cop. "Thanks officer but we need to get moving..." He called back to the man, still not letting Rukia's arm go.

_**And so you learn the only way to go is through the roof,**_

Rukia tossed one of Renji's finished cigarettes that were on the ground into the fire. It was dark now and they were forced to camp out since they had no headlights still. The day had been a complete bust in her mind. A full day and still no answers about the people in charge, still no answers on how to get home.

_**Ooohoohoooh through the roof, underground,**_

Renji rolled the hundredth cigarette that day while steering with his knees. It wasn't much of an issue seeing as there weren't any other cars on the road to be aware of. He glanced over at the passenger seat, about to ask Ichigo to hand him a beer but saw Ichigo was leaning out the window, very involved in the sock puppet show he was putting on for Rukia in the back seat. Renji decided against asking.

_**Ooohoohoooh through the roof, underground,**_

Ichigo sat on shore, letting his feet dangle in the water, choosing to ignore the private property sign in front of him. He watched as Renji held onto Rukia's floatation raff, offering Rukia a bite of the banana he was eating for lunch. He knew Renji was desperate for a bed-mate, but he didn't think he would go as far as hitting on Rukia.

For some reason Ichigo felt his stomach churn at the idea of the two of them in bed together.

_**And as we're crossing border after border,**_

Ichigo sung along with the song playing. He hovered over the console, handing Renji the beer they were sharing. Rukia had joined in; singing off key with Ichigo but it was appreciated.

_**We realize that difference is none,**_

Renji had a finger pushing up both sides of his cheeks, forcing a smile on his face. Rukia chuckled, her own cheeks pushed up as well. Ichigo watched them, before attempting to smile in the mirror, before realizing that Rukia was right, and you weren't able to smile in this world.

_**It's underdogs who, and if you want it,**_

Rukia had a stick of Chap Stick that she had bought at the last store they were at. As Renji hit a speed bump, Rukia loss her hold and the stick feel, being sucked into the black hole beneath the seat.

_**You always have to make your own fun,**_

Renji glared at his lighter, tapping it again but the flame still wouldn't work. After the third time he had given up, deciding that it was long gone and dropped it under his seat, the sound of the black hole taking it away was enough for him to know it was gone.

_**And as the upper dog leisurely sighing,**_

Ichigo was driving with Rukia close to him holding the map for Ichigo to see. He lazily had one arm slung over Rukia's back, his hand resting on the passenger seat where Renji was trying to nap. As Rukia flipped the map over again and again saying she had no idea where they were, Renji sat up, snatching the map from the woman and threw it under his seat.

_**The local cultures are dying and dying,**_

"Hey man," Renji said while handing the new sunglasses he had bought a few stops back to Ichigo. "You need to whip these off for me."

Ichigo held the glasses up, breathing on them and began to whip them with his shirt. His hold on them slipped and he tried to catch the glasses, but failed and watched in despair as they were sucked under the seat.

Renji stared at Ichigo in disbelief. "Man, are you doing that intentionally?"

"No, no-"

"Do you hate me?"

"No, it's not my fault they-"

"I just asked you to clean them off. There's a hole I told you. Here take my hat, drop that in the hole." He said angrily throwing the old hat at Ichigo, who caught it.

"No, I'm not going to drop your hat."

"Here's my tobacco, see if that goes down the hole too-"

"Guys! Guys, guys, guys. Please, stop arguing." Rukia begged, sitting up in the back seat, still half dazed with sleep. She pointed over the seat. "Renji, there's a diner, will you stop?"

"Yeah, perfect timing." He said, slowing down and pulling over. "And you," He gave a pointed stare at Ichigo. "You stop touching my stuff."

"You handed me that." Ichigo argued.

"Don't touch my stuff any more."

[–]

"Who's he talking to on the phone?" Rukia asked Ichigo, eyeing Renji weirdly as the red head leaned against the wall in the other room, talking on the payphone quietly.

"He's calling in to check in with his little brother and sister." Ichigo replied, taking a sip of his coffee, blanching slightly at the taste.

Rukia turned to him, her brows furrowed. "His siblings are here too?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. His older sister did herself in because she couldn't handle the ridicule she got for being gay. His little brother had no one to take care of him once Renji and their sister were gone, so he hung himself shortly after so he didn't have to go into foster care." He explained. For a brief moment Ichigo remembered Keigo and his statement that there really was something to suicides happening in threes.

Rukia shook her head. "That's insane," She said. "Is that normal here? For families to be together like that?"

"Not that I've seen," Ichigo shrugged.

Rukia nodded in acceptance of his answer, and placed down her mug of coffee, which she had been nursing a little better than Ichigo had with his own, and stood from the stool she had been sitting on. "I'm going to go get some more gum. You want anything?"

When Ichigo shook his head to the negative, she moved on to the next room, passing Renji on the phone. She stopped when she felt Renji smack her ass, and sighed in annoyance.

She spun around, stalking up to Renji and grabbed the phone, talking right into it. "The next time you grab my ass I'm gonna tell your sister, you asshole." She gave a sickly sweet smile and smacked Renji's cheek lightly. "Okay?"

Renji watched as Rukia went to the little window with a clerk waiting. He apologized to his sister before hanging up, a slight glare on his face as he went to the stool by Ichigo's side.

Rukia scanned the items behind the counter, already having spotted the brand of gum she wanted. While the clerk was checking his items, Rukia noticed the sign stapled to the wall. 'NO SMOKING' it said in big red capital letters. She checked to make sure no one was paying attention before grabbing the sharpie from the counter and scribbling over the sign, 'Unless you want to!'

[–]

"All I'm saying is, neither one of us are gonna score with her." Renji explained.

"I don't know about that." Ichigo said, shaking his bangs out of his eyes. "The other night she said she thought you were cute."

"Cute? Cute is what you used to call a puppy." Renji complained, rolling his eyes. "The only thing worse is good friend, or nice person. In plain English it means 'I'll leach off of you as long as I can, but don't even think of getting in my pants.'"

"You may be right about that." Ichigo agreed, just for the sake of not fighting. "But, you might not-"

"We should get rid of her while we still can." Renji cut him off. "Look," He said pointing to the waitress behind the counter. She had her back to them, bending over to write something, in very short cut shorts. "This is what we'll being losing out on."

"Yeah, I don't know." Said Ichigo as he looked away. He wasn't looking to get laid. If that was the case he wouldn't have insisted going cross-country to find Orihime. "But…the whole people in charge thing _is_ a little weird..."

"See," Renji tapped his finger on the counter top. "This is what I'm talking about…" He paused, turning to look at the door to the back. Ichigo turned, seeing Rukia standing there, a look of hurt on her face. After a moment of silence, the raven haired girl looked away, marching past them and out the front door, being sure to slam it.

"See that's what I'm talking about. She's eavesdropping on her friends now."

Ichigo ignored Renji and got up from his seat to see out the window behind him. He saw Rukia close their car door before getting into the back of another car. Realizing something had to be done, Ichigo ran outside but as soon as the door closed, Rukia was already driving away.

[–]

Ichigo watched the dead grassy plain flash by as they sped down the highway. Another one of Renji's songs was playing, but not the one he liked. He didn't want to listen to that song at the moment, or maybe ever again, because Rukia had also liked that song and Rukia had left them. Not that Ichigo could blame her. Back at the diner Renji had made the comment about Rukia eavesdropping on friends. Ichigo was sickened at the thought. They weren't friends to Rukia, because friends wouldn't have discussed ditching you for not putting out. Friends would laugh at the idea that you were dead set on that just because that's what friends do.

No, he and Renji couldn't be considered as Rukia's friends. They couldn't even be called nice people anymore. They were the ones doing the leaching.

They hadn't talked to each other for a while now. And whenever it looked like one of them wanted to say something, Renji would turn the radio up louder. As if that could solve all of life's problems. But it was working pretty well so far.

As they drove, the sun beat down on them, the light shining into the car to make something in the back seat glint. Ichigo frowned and turned in his seat, reaching out towards the odd glint. "You buy these shades?"

"What shades?"

Ichigo sat back, two pair of orange tinted sunglasses in his hand. "Rukia bought us shades, man." This was just the icing on the cake to make Ichigo feel like the biggest pile of shit.

He slipped the glasses on, looking out at the slightly orange road.

"That was sweet of her." Renji commented, throwing the shades on. "But it's nice to be on our own again, right?" He said, looking at Ichigo for an answer.

Ichigo stared at him, the look on his face that of disappointment. "Renji, you know I like you, but you can be an asshole."

"What do you care for?" The other asked back harshly. "We're looking for Orihime."

"Yeah, we're looking for Orihime."

"Okay then, let's focus on looking for Orihime."

[–]

They had stopped off at a small, nearly deserted gas station. Renji went inside to pay, leaving Ichigo outside to pump. He had some trouble, but he got the old rusty hose in place, and set it on lock before leaning back and adjusting his new glasses. He never really was all into wearing glasses like this, but it was all he had left of Rukia, so he kept them on.

"Okay, calm down." An all too familiar voice said in the background.

_Speak of the Devil…_

He looked around and saw the same purple hoodie wearing Rukia, not even ten yards away, being forced into handcuffs at the gas station entrance.

"Please cooperate ma'am; I'm going to have to arrest you." A long bearded cop said as he forced Rukia's hands behind her back.

"Under what charges?" Rukia cried, trying to slip her hands away, but the officer caught them.

"Breaking that sign was a clear case of vandalism."

"That's completely retarded!" Rukia hissed.

Ichigo glanced the sign beside them, noticing that the N on the sign was removed; now making the sign read 'O EXIT' rather than 'NO EXIT.'

"I was just trying to make this place a little bit less depressing! What's the big deal with that?" Rukia whined as the cop started pushing her into the back seat of the car. By now Ichigo had started walking towards them. "What the hell is your problem? You don't need to be doing this-"

"Hey!" Ichigo called as he jogged up to the officer. "That's - that's my sister." was the first thing Ichigo could think of once he reached the car.

"Your sister?" The officer repeated suspiciously, looking back at the woman before slamming the car door closed.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Well, your sister's been arrested." The cop stated, trying to get past Ichigo, but was stopped.

"Arrested?" He asked loudly. The cop tried to walk past him again but Ichigo grabbed his arm. "Please, can I just talk to you for a moment? She's only been here for a few weeks and…you know. How long have you been here?"

The officer paused, staring at Ichigo for a full three seconds before replying, "Sometime."

"Then you remember how it was the first couple of months. I mean, the whole not smiling thing is getting to her and nobody's got any good humor-"

[–]

'NO EXIT' the badly painted sign read, but he didn't have time to look. He ran quickly, no longer worried about being quiet, for the sound of gun fire and bombs disguised the sound of his foot steps.

He hid behind a hill of dirt as debris of wood and hard dirt flew over him as a result of an explosion. His other two mates were running into battle, and one of them had tapped his shoulder as a sign to join in, but he stayed rooted to the spot. He couldn't live in this world any longer. He was seeing with his own eyes just how fucked up and fearful this world was. He couldn't even smile anymore.

Taking his gun, his placed the barrel in his mouth, staring upwards into his brain, and pulled the trigger.

[–]

The officer removed his hat, revealing a large hole where part of his scalp stood up. Ichigo knew by now not to stare, and that everyone here had died in their own way and the evidence was still clear, just like the scars on his wrists.

"I guess I can turn my head away this one time." The officer said. He opened the door, pulling Rukia out of the car. "Ma'am, you better watch your behavior." He said, unlocking the handcuffs.

"You bet officer." Rukia said, all the time looking up at Ichigo. Once the handcuffs were off and she had her bag back she told Ichigo, "You didn't have to do that." before walking away.

"Thank you." Ichigo said one last time to the cop before following after the raven haired woman. Rukia stood on the side of the road, thumb up and looking for cars passing by. Trying to ignore the older male beside her. "So what? Now you're just going to…" A car drove past, but did not stop. "…Can we still give you a ride?"

"No thanks, I think I'm going the other way."

Ichigo remained silent for a few seconds, staring down at his feet as he fought for the right thing to say. "…Listen, I'm sorry…about all that back there. We didn't mean that, it's just Renji's venting."

"It's okay," Rukia stated, slipping a stick of gum in her mouth. "Doesn't matter." She said turning away.

Ichigo frowned, watching as another car passed them. "Listen-"

"You should probably go." Rukia cut in. "It's gonna be hard for me to get a ride with you standing there."

Ichigo frowned a little more but Rukia wasn't looking at him. "You're right." He said, taking a step back. "I hope you find what you're looking for. I really do."

He walked back to the car, still parked in front of the gas pump. He got in the passenger seat, finding Renji already at the wheel, smoking.

"Where were you man?" He asked and started up the car.

"Rukia, he was right back there-"

As the car started moving forward, there was a strange, struggling noise before the car took a little leap. Renji stop the car, throwing it in park and opened the door.

"What the fuck was that?!" He yelled, aghast. He poked his head out the door, seeing the hose from the pump still in the car's gas tank but no longer attached to the pump itself. "Aw, shit man. You didn't take out the nozzle?" He saw a rather large dark skinned man walking towards their car. He closed the door, turning to Ichigo. "You deal with this guy, I'm not into this."

[–]

"Sorry, again."

"Don't worry about it." The gas station employee assured, his eyes hidden behind his brown bangs. "It happens all the time. At least twice a week." He placed a little binder on the counter in front of Ichigo, flipping past a few pages. "Fill that out." He said while handing Ichigo a pen.

Ichigo wrote down his name and address but stopped once he got to the third question. "What does this mean: 'what were you thinking when the accident occurred'?"

"Exactly that."

"Oh," Ichigo stared back at the paper, his hand not moving the pen an inch. What was he thinking about? Looking out the window, he saw Rukia, still outside, walking back and forth while pulling her hoodie closer to her body.

He looked away, deciding to read a few of the other papers to get a feel for the answer.

_'Here I am…buried in debt. If pulling the trigger didn't solve my problem then what the hell will?'_

He flipped to the next page.

_'I was wondering if I was too drunk to drive.'_

He flipped again, and noticed the neat, familiar cursive writing. He read it once, then two times, then three.

[–]

"But the problem with you is that you don't think it's fucked up to talk shit about me when I'm not there-"

"Oh, I was kidding." Renji interrupted Rukia.

The short woman glared icily at the taller male. "You were kidding? You didn't know I was listening!"

"No, I didn't. But that's eavesdropping." He said, removing his glasses and whipping them clean on his shirt. "Eavesdropping is what you were doing."

"Whatever." Rukia pulled away, crossing her arms and looking back at the road. "Whatever." She repeated haughtily.

Renji turned away also, seeing Ichigo running towards them. The orange haired man stopped right in between them, pulling out a piece of paper, and making both Rukia and Renji look.

"What's this?"

"It's her phone number, Orihime's! It's her phone number, address, everything."

Renji and Rukia inspected the paper, reading the text:

_'I spaced out because the guy at pump number 3 looked just like my ex-boyfriend. God – will I ever find him? He feels so close.'_

"I knew she was close. I told you so." Ichigo kept repeating over and over again as the other two read. He didn't know what to feel right now. Happy? He was beyond happy. Excited? That didn't work either. He was so close to finding her and the feeling he got couldn't be explained.

"So what you want to do?" Renji asked. "Want to call her?"

"No, let's just drive over there. The guy inside said it's not too far from here." He grabbed Renji's shoulders, shaking them happily. "Come on man, let's go!" He threw arm over the other's shoulder as they walked back to the car.

"You should buy her some flowers at least."

Ichigo stopped, turning around to see Rukia digging the toes of her shoes into the dirt.

"Well, flowers would be nice but did you see the flowers in there?" Ichigo inquired, raising a brow.

"Yeah." Rukia agreed, shoving her hand in her pockets. "But…I have an idea."

[–]

Ichigo leaned out the car window to hold up the dead flowers. Rukia was leaning out her own window, spraying the flowers with a can of green spray paint. Once most of the flowers were finished he pulled back in, holding them up to Renji.

"They're not too bad I think." Ichigo said, looking at the now green color stems and pedals.

"Yeah." Rukia agreed, leaning over the console and into the front of the car. "Orihime's got some taste." She quipped.

"No shit." Renji said, turning his eyes back to the road. "Who would have guessed that someone named Orihime would like turquoise?"

[–]

They pulled into a long dirt driveway, Russian music playing loudly through the open windows. Renji stopped the car in front of a little black painted house and parked. Ichigo took his first step out of the car, and with all his courage, walked up to the house, looking back at his friends for moral support.

Rukia watched as Ichigo got closer to the house and stopped in front of the white painted door to fix his hair, and then knocked. No one answered right away. Ichigo knocked again, this time a little louder.

A man in his late thirties answered and everyone's heart sank.

"Holly shit." Renji said, watching Ichigo talk to the man.

"Yeah. Doesn't look good." Rukia mumbled.

Ichigo finished talking, turned around and walked back to the car with his shoulders slumped.

"What happened?" Rukia asked as Ichigo got closer.

"She moved."

"Where?" Renji asked.

"He doesn't know…" Ichigo opened the door, throwing the flowers in the back and plopping himself in his seat.

"Any forward address?" Renji inquired.

Ichigo shook his head to the negative. "But at least we know we're getting closer, right?"

"Yeah."

"You deserve a drink man." Renji stated, grabbing a beer from the pack next to the console and starting the car.

Once back on the road they decided against the radio to give Ichigo the chance to think. They weren't talking much, having nothing to really talk about.

Rukia looked down at the flowers in her lap, painted an ugly turquoise green. She looked back up at Ichigo as he stayed quiet in his seat. She frowned softly, fiddling with the stem of one of the flowers. She looked checked to see if Ichigo was paying any attention. When she realized he wasn't, Rukia slowly lowered the flowers from her lap, forcing them under the seat in front of her, and let go.

* * *

**Starting to notice some feelings brewing, huh? Haha! Well, be ready because the next part will be a doozy!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you will keep reading! The next chapter will be the last, and trust me you're going to want to see it!**

**REVIEW!**


	3. Part Three

**Well, here is the final part to this story! This is a very emotional chapter, so be ready to cry! **

**This is longest part of the story, which is why it took me a little longer to post than it did for the second part. I had to edit it, and at one point I completely changed a whole scene. If you've seen the movie, you'll see what I changed. **

**So, as not to hold you guys up any longer, here's the third and final part to this story!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of the characters associated with the Anime/Manga. They belong to Tite Kubo and Shonen Jump Magazine. Nor do I own the plot to Wristcutters or any of the songs used within this Fic. Please support the official release.**

* * *

_Wristcutters: A Love Story- Part Three_

* * *

"He's sleeping." Rukia noted, staring at Ichigo who had drifted off in the back seat.

"Fucker's always sleeping in the car." Renji muttered with disinterest.

It was getting closer to dusk, and they would be forced to pull over soon. Looking around, there weren't many places to set up camp on the wet, puddle-filled ground. It was beginning to look like they would all be sleeping in the car for the night.

Rukia sighed, leaning on her elbow as she scanned the darkening horizon. Her eyes trailed downwards until they spotted something new. "What's this button?" Rukia asked curiously, reaching for it.

"Don't press that-" Renji to stop her, but it was too late as Rukia pressed the button.

Renji froze, staring with wide eyes as a light beamed outwards from the car, lighting the road. "Holy shit. Do you see what I see?" He breathed.

He pulled the car over suddenly, tires shrieking and sand blowing. He threw his door open, running to the front of his car. "In-fucking-credible!" He cheered, waving his hands in front of the working headlights, waking Ichigo up as he did so.

Rukia opened her door, stepping out with a confused expression on her pale features. "Renji, what are you-?"

"Look! Look, look. You are a genius! Amazing!" Renji cried as he suddenly grabbed Rukia, pulling her closer and kissing her deeply, ignoring the fact that Rukia was struggling to get away.

"Okay Renji, take it easy." Rukia said as she pushed the red head off of her.

"It's just the headlights." Ichigo said from the car, frowning at his friend's behavior. "It's awesome, but it's not _that_ awesome..."

[–]

The car drove down the dark road. Headlights flickering on and off.

"That's beautiful." Renji stated simply as he drove. "Do it again." He breathed.

Rukia pressed the little button, causing the headlights to go off, and then pressing it again turning the headlights back on. As the road became bright once again, a figure suddenly came into view and Rukia's eyes widened in shock.

"Renji watch out!" Rukia cried. Renji swerved violently, missing the man by an inch. The car rocked back and forth, the occupants yelling as it slammed into a tree off-road, lurching the three forward.

They got out of the car as quickly as they could, checking themselves and each other for injuries. When they agreed they were okay, they circled the man that was still lying on the ground.

"I think he's sleeping." Rukia said trying to get closer but Ichigo put a hand on her to stop her.

Renji got closer, leaning down to hit the guy lightly in the shoulder a few times. "Hey. Hey man. You on drugs or something?" He called, the man groaning in response. Renji scowled, kicking the man in the side to wake him up.

The man yelled out and fought to get to his feet, waving his arms frantically. "What was that for?!"

"You were asleep." Renji replied blankly.

The man frowned, staring at Renji for a moment before looking back down to the ground. His shoulders slumped, and then he ran a hand through his wild blond hair. "I must have dozed off. I think I slept on my ear wrong. Do I look a symmetrical to you?" he asked, noticing that the group wasn't answering him. "Sorry, my name is Kisuke Urahara." He said, offering his hand. None of them went to shake it. Realizing they weren't about to return his greeting, he lowered his arm. "Uh, okay…here." He suddenly plunged his hand into the pocket of his green coat, pulling out a folded piece of paper and unfolded it to hand it to Rukia. "I'm looking for my cat. This is her." He said referring to the picture on the flier. The picture was of a black cat with yellow eyes and sleek fur.

Ichigo grabbed the flier from Rukia's hands, handing it back to the older man. "You always look for your cat lying in the road?"

"I had to take a break. It's emotional work-"

"Emotional work?" Renji repeated angrily, pointing at his car. "You were fucking sleeping in the road!"

"Well, look it's too late to continue looking for Yoruichi. Why don't we go to my place?" Urahara suggested. "I'll have my friends look at your car, deal?"

[–]

Urahara explained that the place he lived was deemed a 'camp' for those who had lost their way, but really was just his rented space that he let others share with him for free.

Ichigo ignored the long dulled out story that Urahara had been telling them in favor of looking around the camp. There wasn't much, one big building surround by little huts and tents, near the line for the forest. There were a few people milling around, lazing on the ground or eating half-assed concoctions. He looked up to one of the people by the main building, and his eyes widened.

"Guys! Renji, Rukia, look at that!" He exclaimed. Rukia turned and looked, seeing an old man sitting in a chair eating beans.

"What?" She inquired, raising an brow at the now dumbfounded Ichigo.

"That…that guy was just…floating…in the air."

"Floating?"

"He – he was! He-"

"Don't pay any attention to them. It happens all the time." Urahara said while leading the group away from the elderly man, leaning slightly on a yellow cane.

"What happens?" Ichigo asked. "Miracles?"

"Yeah, people floating in the air, turning stones into plants, or changing the color of different objects."

"Fixing the headlights, maybe?" Ichigo offered, looking at Rukia and Renji.

"Headlights?" Urahara raised a brow.

"His headlights," He said, indicating Renji. "have been broken for ages and she fixed them not too far from here just by pressing a button." He explained.

"Yeah," Urahara nodded. "Something small and insignificant like that."

As they continued to walk, a soft, beautiful humming was heard. Renji's ears quirked and he turned to Urahara.

"Is that a miracle too?"

"No that's just Tatsuki," Urahara said, gesturing to a young dark haired woman sitting on a bench, tapping her feet while she hummed. "She a mute, but she does this kind of throat singing. She's really sweet, but can be hot-tempered, so be careful." He walked off to talk to the young woman before having Tatsuki follow him back to the group. "Tatsuki will show you where you can sleep."

As Urahara walked off Renji called from over his shoulder. "Better take care of my car!"

[–]

"What do you think of that guy?" Ichigo asked as Rukia worked on starting a fire for them to warm up with.

She shrugged. "He's odd…hard to believe someone like him killed himself."

Ichigo nodded in agreement, glancing over at Renji, who was huddled up with the mute girl from earlier whispering something. She was nodding furiously, looking eager at whatever it was the red head was saying.

"This whole place is strange," Ichigo noted, turning back as Rukia placed a few more sticks into the pile.

"Well, I guess you'll fit right in, huh?" Rukia smirked at him, lighting a match. Ichigo scowled slightly, shaking his head at her as she ran the match over the dead pieces of wood. The wood wouldn't catch, so she huffed and flicked the match away, not noticing as it began to float into the air on its own accord.

Ichigo watched the match in awe, another miracle preformed in front of his eyes. It rose steadily into the night sky, a single dot of light in the endless void of black. It was like this world's first ever star.

[–]

"Just forget about the miracles," Urahara told Ichigo the next morning as he filled the water hole. "They don't mean a thing."

"Yeah, but everyone at camp can do it but me." Ichigo complained.

"Just give it a break." Urahara said, turning off the hose and letting it fall to the ground uselessly.

"But I just really want to do one." Ichigo sighed. "Just a small one, even if it's stupid."

"Here's the deal," Urahara started, raising a finger in Ichigo's direction. "As long as you want it so badly; it's not going to happen. The only way it's gonna work is if it doesn't matter." He dropped his hand, and then turned away. "Do you get what I'm saying?"

Ichigo stuffed his hands in his pockets with a scowl. "I don't know. I guess." He said turning away from Urahara. "It just doesn't make any sense to me."

"It will," Urahara assured him.

Ichigo turned his gaze down the hill the two men were standing on as the sound of an engine met his ears. He watched as Rukia pulled up in a little mechanical cart, a basket in the back. She poked her head out, waving at the two of them.

"Yo, Urahara!" Rukia called. Urahara looked over the hill at her, raising a brow in question. "Mind it I use your cart? Because we're out of logs."

"Sure," He said, focusing on Rukia. "You look good in it."

"Yeah, I like it." Rukia replied while rubbing the dashboard. "Ichigo," She said suddenly, surprising him. "Want to go on a ride?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered, already heading down the hill. "You're going to be okay, right Urahara?" He asked, not really caring what Urahara's answer was.

"Yeah, go ahead." Urahara said, seeing Ichigo already halfway gone.

Urahara watched as the two young adults drove off together. His lips quirking slightly.

[–]

They drove through a little winding dirt path, passing greener grass and small plants.

"It's nice here, right?" Commented Ichigo once seeing the more lively plants. It had been a long time since he had seen this much life in this horrible place.

"Yeah," Rukia responded, looking at Ichigo sitting beside her. "You ever miss the things you had before you off'd?"

"I don't know. I don't really remember much." He said, taking a stick of gum from Rukia and chewing it. "I think the only thing I missed was Orihime, and now that she's here, it's all I can think about."

"I miss everything." Rukia said wistfully. "I miss my friends, I miss my bunny-"

"You had a what?" Ichigo inquired.

"-I miss my family, my house, everything. I even miss the things I hated at this point." Rukia continued, ignoring Ichigo question.

Ichigo watched as Rukia ranted on and on, thinking about her words. He had tried not to think about the kind of stuff she was talking about, because it would only make him feel worse. But now that she was bringing it all up, he couldn't help but consider…

[–]

"He's teaching her how to open a beer with a lighter." Rukia said, pointing down the cliff at Renji and Tatsuki, who were sitting at a shore of a little pound.

"She doesn't even drink." Ichigo said, shocked, nudging Rukia in the shoulder. "Let me see."

Rukia handed him the binoculars that were still draped over her neck, forcing Ichigo to lie closer.

"You see?" Rukia commented.

"Yeah, I see." He handed Rukia back the binoculars as Renji helped Tatsuki pop the beer bottle top. "Yesterday he was trying to teach her the names of the kendo champions of his time. She had no clue what he was saying."

"The secret is that's she's from way too far away to pick up on his character."

"And half her family off'd, just like his." Ichigo raised his hand, signaling it was his turn to spy.

"I know, but she doesn't live with them." Rukia finished watching Renji doing some sort of dance and handed the binoculars off.

"Holy shit, he caught a fish." Ichigo said, leaning a little closer to Rukia until they were shoulder to shoulder. "I can't believe it! He's doing it."

"Doing what?"

"The fish, he's changing its color." He said giving the binoculars to Rukia. The fish in Renji's hand was changing from green to blue to purple to red, just by holding it.

"When are you gonna stop being obsessed with those stupid little miracles?" Rukia groaned, rolling her eyes before standing up and walking back to the cart.

"I don't know." Ichigo said, following after Rukia with a petulant scowl on his face. "When you stop being obsessed with all that people in charge shit, maybe?"

"That's not the same." Rukia shot back hotly.

"Oh I'm sorry, 'cause you're here on accident. I just don't see how you can possibly-"

"Okay, listen you prick." Rukia cut in, looking right at Ichigo with a hard frown. "I didn't kill myself…I just OD'd."

[–]

The belt was wrapped so tightly around her arm that from the elbow down the skin had turned a sickly blue. The raven haired woman lay back in the passenger seat of her car, parked out behind the grocery store where she had total privacy for what she had thought would occur.

The needle was held limply in her hand, empty of its contents that now surged through her veins like poison. Her violet eyes were dull as they stared out the window, her mouth open as she took in her last breath.

[–]

"_I'm sincerely sorry…" Ichigo read out loud, staring down at his phone as it shone brightly in his face. It was raining outside, the droplets smacking against his window loudly, and he couldn't imagine any better weather for what was happening. _

_Orihime…she was breaking up with him. She was leaving him for his friend Ishida. She was breaking up with him…and over text no less. _

_Ichigo sat there for what felt like hours, feeling the slow, painful thudding of his heart. He slowly lay down on his bed, dropping the phone to the floor as he stared up at the ceiling. _

_He stayed there in bed for hours, staring up at the ceiling with a blank expression. He could feel the bags under his eyes, the slight sting of exhaustion every time he blinked. The numbness was deep in his bones, the only thing he could register the thudding of his heart. It was beating to the tune of despair, thumping slightly harder than it normally did. He could feel each palpitation spread throughout his body, his blood-vessels swelling with blood all the way down to his legs. It was an odd sensation, one he was not used to focusing so intently on. But he knew if he let his mind leave the sensation it would return to the awful truth handed to him: Orihime was leaving him._

_Slowly, Ichigo lifted his hands, staring at the palms as they hovered in front of his face. They seemed so odd in his current state of mind, like they belonged to someone else. He let his gaze lower slightly to his wrists and the criss-cross lines of his veins, swelling with blood. Blood…that could be spilled…_

_Maybe…there was an escape._

_With the record playing in the background, Ichigo stood from his bed to clean his apartment._

[–]

Ichigo awoke with a start, sweat pouring from his brow as he seethed in a quick breath between his clenched teeth. He briefly wondered where he was, but once he heard the soft throat singing of Tatsuki he realized he was back at camp, and that it had only been a dream.

Following the rhythmic ticking sound, he saw Renji and Tatsuki, outside the window, sitting close to one another beside the fire. Tatsuki was singing while Renji made music by blowing into an empty jug. They looked content.

Ichigo sighed, lying back down on his bed as he watched the two. Seeing them was calming and for the time being would distract him from the dream – nightmare – he had just had. But at the same time, watching them was troubling.

"Ichigo?" A soft voice asked from above him. It was Rukia, he knew. Rukia was sleeping in the bunk above him.

Rolling in bed to look away from the happy couple, Ichigo laid on his back, looking up at the bunk above him. "You're awake?"

"I've been thinking," Rukia started, rolling to the edge of her bunk to look at Ichigo. "If I'm going to find the people in charge, then I have to keep looking. I'm not gonna find them here." She finished sadly, seeing Ichigo unable to keep eye contact with her. "You know?"

"Yeah," Ichigo drifted back to his side, no longer staring at Rukia or any other campers, but just the air in front of him. "I think you're right." He admitted unwittingly. "I think if I'm going to find Orihime, I have to start looking elsewhere too."

Rukia nodded, not caring if Ichigo could see her or not. She looked outside at the fire and the couple that was sitting around it. "We can't wait on Renji forever."

"Yeah, I know."

Ichigo closed his eyes, hearing Rukia moving around above him. He listened to the sound of Tatsuki's throat singing, letting it soothe his mind and work as a lullaby as he drifted back to sleep.

[–]

"I found her!"

Ichigo awoke with a jump, eyes snapping open quickly as the yells got louder.

"I found it! I found Urahara's cat! I found Yoruichi!"

Renji and Tatsuki were startled out of their song as Jinta, a young red haired teenager with a permanent hole in the side of his head from where he nailed himself to death, ran towards them, out of breath.

"Jinta, what happened to you?" Renji asked, holding Tatsuki's hand in his protectively. Ichigo came up behind him, joining the small crowd that was about to start. Next were Rukia, Urahara, and then a few others that were sleeping close by.

"I saw this man everyone calls Lord Aizen that lives on the other side. He has Urahara's cat held captive." Jinta breathed, leaning onto his knees.

"What?" Urahara bellowed, pushing his way to the front.

Jinta ignored him, continuing his first thought. "And there were so many people there, hundreds. To witness the miracle that's going to be performed tomorrow."

"Yoruichi is performing miracles?" Urahara asked, confused.

"No, Lord Aizen." Jinta corrected. "But not like our miracles, but a planned, specific miracle." He said.

Rukia walked up to Jinta, handing him a glass of water. "Here, drink this."

"How about Yoruichi?" Urahara asked eagerly. Jinta held a finger up, silently informing Urahara to wait while he drank. "What about Yoruichi?" He asked again, getting the same answer. "Jinta! Is Yoruichi alright?"

Jinta finished his water, giving out a long, relieved sigh. "Yoruichi is fine." He said simply. "They feed her fried fish and she refuses to come back."

"Yoruichi has been brainwashed." Urahara said to himself. He turned his sharp eyes to Jinta. "You're going to drive me there now."

"I only know how to get their on foot." Jinta said sheepishly.

Ichigo turned to Rukia, jerking his head towards Jinta as if to say 'you hear that.' Rukia nodded back, knowing full well what Ichigo had planned.

"Fine, we'll leave in the morning." Urahara said matter-of-factly.

"Do you mind if Ichigo and I tag along with you?" Rukia asked, stepping out of the crowd.

"You guys want to see the miracle he's going to perform?" Renji asked curiously.

"Yeah, I want to go." Rukia answered, not looking at Renji.

[–]

They walked up the steep hill, a small clear path leading the way through the tall unkempt grass. Jinta lead the way, trying to remember which way he had turned his first time traveling this path towards the settlement. They had been walking since the sun came up and still seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.

"Jinta, are you sure we're going the right way?" Ichigo asked as they passed another cluster of dead trees. "We've been walking for close to six hours now."

"We should be there soon. I…think." Jinta muttered.

[–]

It was dark now, and the four were forced to sleep out for the night. They were hours away from camp, and had no luck in finding the house of the so called 'king.'

"I don't know what happened." Jinta muttered repeatedly from where he lay by the fire. "I was sure we'd find it before dark."

"I think it's a good sign." Urahara said cheerily. "I mean, you got lost last time, right?"

Jinta blinked at Urahara, and then nodded eagerly. "You're right. That's a really good sign."

[–]

In the near distance Ichigo and Rukia were collecting fire wood. They were only about ten or so yards away. Too far to hear any conversations that the other men were having but close enough to have the light of the fire, which was needed since there was no moon to light their path.

"I hope we can find our way back to camp." Ichigo grumbled. He was worried. They were lost and no one knew which way they were headed. The likelihoods of someone from camp ever coming to find them was slim and that was only if someone was smart enough to realize they had gotten lost.

"That would be nice." Rukia sighed, piling on another piece of wood in the stack she held in her arms.

"We have no clue where we are, and we've been walking for twelve hours." Ichigo continued, knowing that Rukia wasn't listening. "I don't even know how fast we were going and-"

"Shh!" Rukia suddenly held her hand up, silencing Ichigo mid-rant. Ichigo frowned, not hearing anything and walked closer to Rukia, stepping on wood and tall grass. "Shh!" She hushed again.

"What-"

"Listen, do you hear that?"

Ichigo closed his mouth and focused in on where Rukia was staring. He could hear something, loud and moving.

"Yeah, I do. It sounds like a…"

Rukia dropped the sticks she had collected, running off towards the noise. Following her example, Ichigo forgot the log in his hand and caught up with Rukia.

They slowed to a walk as they reached a foot tall cliff, seeing water crashing onto the surface of a desolate beach.

They stood there for a moment; both stunned from their discovery, before Ichigo turned to Rukia and said, "Let's go," Ichigo jumped off the small land and lead the way for Rukia to follow. He grasped Rukia's hand to assure that Rukia wouldn't trip behind him. "Funny, no one at camp mentioned the beach being so close."

"Maybe they don't know." Rukia said hopefully. "Maybe we're the only one's that do know."

Rukia held onto Ichigo's arm tightly as he led them over a surface of uneven rocks. It was dark, but not as dark as it had been in the camp they had set up for the night. The ocean seemed able to reflect some light, as if it was glowing.

As the land got a little flatter Rukia released her grip, walking to the water briskly to stare out over the waves. Ichigo joined her, staring into the peaceful scene before them. "Remember the other day when you were talking about the thing's you missed?" Ichigo asked, placing his hands in his pockets. "How you said you wanted to go back and that I didn't miss anything?"

"Yeah," Rukia answered, plopping herself in the sand and immediately started running her fingers through it to feel the cool material in her palms.

Ichigo sat beside her, taking a stick and using it to draw in the sand next to Rukia. "When I'm here with you," Ichigo started again, looking down at the smiley-face Rukia was drawing in the sand. "I kind of miss myself, the way I used to be." He finished, his expression one of contemplation.

"What were you like?" Rukia whispered, interested.

"I was happy at the time. Obviously before I off'd." He said, bending down slightly to draw in the sand like Rukia. "But when I came here, and met you, I just…you know. It's weird to me that you can feel that in a place like this." He said wistfully. "We're…we're all dead."

Rukia hummed in agreement, analyzing the poorly drawn rabbit she had finished drawing in the sand, realizing that Ichigo was finished. "You know, most people I knew before I got here were either half dead or already dead to begin with. Completely dead. And…you're doing pretty good Ichigo."

Rukia looked out at the ocean, watching the water crash softly into rocks and sand. Ichigo though was watching Rukia, no longer caring about the tranquil scene of the ocean. Watching how the purple in her eyes were so bright that they defeated the ocean only a few feet away. The light from the water reflected off of her smooth, porcelain skin, making Ichigo itch to touch it. Her short raven hair blew in the sight breeze that passed by, forcing her to have to brush it aside. Rukia was more breath taking than the ocean in front of them, a hundred times more beautiful in Ichigo's mind. When Rukia looked back at Ichigo, she was shocked. Ichigo had grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss. Deep and passionate. Rukia closed her eyes, kissing back with just as much enthusiasm. One of her hands found its way up to Ichigo's neck, pulling the boy closer to deepen the kiss she had long dreamt of having with him.

[–]

Urahara looked down at the beach, seeing Rukia and Ichigo fast asleep. They we both on their sides, Ichigo spooning up against Rukia's back, holding the short girl protectively. The sight was charming, if you didn't take your eyes off of just them.

"Ichigo! Rukia!" He yelled, voice echoing slightly. "Get up!"

Ichigo's eye's fluttered and he lifted his head to look for the source of the voice calling to them. The sun was up and it was about mid-morning, nearly blinding him. He noticed Urahara walking towards them and when he looked back at Rukia, he wanted to blanch.

"Shit, Rukia get up!" He said, shaking Rukia awake.

Rukia groaned, giving a shiver when Ichigo's warmth left her. She cracked open an eye, and was met with a dirty, used condom in front of her face.

"Oh God!" Rukia yelled, rushing to her feet as she stared at the ground. Used condoms and rusty needles were everywhere, surrounding them like an army of disgusting tools.

"There you are." Urahara said sarcastically as he walked over the rocks towards them. "We've been worried sick about you."

Ichigo ignored him, in favor of focusing on Rukia. "Careful, careful," He repeated, grabbing Rukia's hands and moving her onto the rock. "Don't step on them, put your shoes on."

"I hope you didn't sleep here." Urahara said, glaring at the disgusting ground.

"Well…yeah." Ichigo said sheepishly, motioning at the ground where Urahara had found them. "But none of this was here last night!"

"This is where drug users and prostitutes used to come." Urahara explained, ignoring Ichigo. "And it was too revolting even for them. Now, can we get out of here?"

"Yes!" Ichigo said taking Rukia's hand. "Careful." He muttered again, scared of Rukia getting hurt of clutching something from the disease infested ground.

"I just hope Jinta isn't lost." Urahara complained.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "Jinta is already lost."

[–]

"Jinta!" Rukia yelled, her voice echoing throughout the empty valley.

"Jinta!" Ichigo all but screamed, getting tired of looking.

A long high pitched whistle got all their attentions.

"Jinta!" Ichigo tried again, facing the direction he thought the whistle came from. He was answered again. "We're never going to find him-"

"I found it!" Jinta yelled, running down the hill. "I found it!" he said again, waving. "It's right over the hill. With music, and drinks, and dancing girls." He starting walking, the other three forced to follow quickly.

Jinta led them up a steep slope, and once they reached the top they found themselves staring down at a crowd of people; talking, eating, and even a few dancing to the music that the large castle like building was playing. Ichigo stuck close to Rukia, afraid he would lose her in such a thick throng of people.

They descended the hill, Urahara practically sprinting for the main building, Jinta behind him, leaving Ichigo and Rukia alone in the crowd.

The two explored for a few moments, looking around at the people as they danced and conversed with one another. Ichigo pointed out a snack table, and the two headed on over towards it.

"Excuse me," Rukia stopped two older women, interrupting their conversation. "Who is in charge here?"

"Lord Aizen of course." One of the women answered, looking at them as if they were stupid. "Can you believe how privileged we are?"

"Why is that?"

"Because of the miracle." Rukia nodded, silently encouraging the woman to continue. "He's going to separate his soul from his body."

"We're actually just looking for our cat." Ichigo said, eating some crackers on the table in front of them.

Jinta ran up behind them, tapping Ichigo's shoulder. "I think you guys better see this."

"Why?" Ichigo asked, worried. "What's going on?"

"Urahara's with Lord Aizen and he's raising hell."

[–]

A small, sleek black cat with piercing yellow eyes sat at the feet of a chair, eating well cooked fish from a sliver plate next to a large dish of fresh cold milk.

"That cat came to me and begged to be a part of this." A man with wavy brown hair and glasses said, playing absently with a dagger in his hands as he sat behind his large mahogany desk.

"Well, that's my cat." Urahara told him defensively.

"No, you don't own this cat."

"You kidnapped her!" Urahara said angrily, rolling his sleeves up his arms.

"That's some very serious charges, my friend." The other man glared from behind the rims of his glasses.

The door to the room opened and Jinta came in, followed by Ichigo and Rukia, but they were stopped before they could get too close.

"Lord Aizen is in a meeting." The man who stopped them, tall and muscular with electric blue hair with intimidating turquoise eyes, said sternly.

"That's our friend." Jinta fought back, trying to get around but was stopped again by the blue haired man's hand.

Ichigo looked over the man's shoulder, seeing Urahara throwing salt at this 'Lord' Aizen, the auburn haired woman beside him moving out of the way. He froze, staring at the familiar hairstyle and crystal blue hairpins the girl wore to part her burnt orange hair out of her face. Suddenly, she looked up, catching eyes with Ichigo.

"K-Kurosaki-kun?" She asked unbelievably.

"Orihime." He walked past the guard, who didn't bother to stop him as the woman seemed to know him.

"My God!" Orihime yelled, throwing her arms around Ichigo and pulling him into a tight hug. He hugged her back. "Oh my God! I can't believe it's you!" She pulled away, grabbing Ichigo's face as she stared at him. "You look absolutely the same."

"W-well, almost. B-but YOU!" Ichigo stammered, looking Orihime up and down. "You're actually here!"

Orihime nodded, her gray eyes shining. "How are you Kurosaki-kun?"

Rukia looked away, her face void of any emotion as Ichigo and his ex-girlfriend talked. She couldn't help but feel a little hurt by this, but she knew that finding Orihime was Ichigo's plan from the get-go.

"Can we please get on with the cat?" Urahara interrupted, narrowing his eyes at Ichigo and Orihime.

"Yeah," Aizen said, putting away his dagger. "Let's deal with the cat." He muttered, as Orihime led Ichigo out of the room. Ichigo looked back, finding Rukia who waved her hand at him, signaling that he should go.

"Don't do that you're confusing the cat." Urahara complained as Aizen held a treat in front of Yoruichi's face, making little cooing noises. Urahara himself was wagging a toy mouse around, trying to get Yoruichi's attention back.

"Come on Yoruichi." Urahara begged, waving the toy as he tried to get closer to his kitty. Unbelievably, Yoruichi hissed at him.

"The cat has spoken." Aizen said smugly. "I'm tired and I need to concentrate. It's going to be a hell of a show."

[–]

Orihime had brought Ichigo to one of the tower tops, and he was able to see the whole crowd from where they were perched. He could see everyone waiting impatiently, wanting to witness the miracle that was supposedly to come.

"After you off'd, I just cried and cried." Orihime said, looking Ichigo in the eye sadly. "And I had to leave town 'cause everything reminded me of you. I even left Ishida-kun." Ichigo didn't answer. He didn't know how to answer. As much as Ichigo hated to admit it, he was confused. Orihime's hand slid up his chest and grabbed the collar of his shirt, tugging on it slightly. "Trust me; I never knew how much I loved you until you were gone."

Suddenly Ichigo was pulled into another hug, as if it was routine, but unlike Orihime he didn't embrace her tightly, rather just having his hands hang on her shoulders. He could see the crowd over Orihime's shoulder and like a magnet, Ichigo's eyes instantly pinpointed Rukia out of the mob. She was walking around aimlessly, observing people holding signs or eating.

Orihime pulled away, kissing his cheek sweetly.

"Lord Aizen. Aizen, he was a real friend." She said earnestly. "He got me out of town, and I became more and more interested in his teachings. And he made me stop crying." She said with the closest thing to a smile she could muster. "Then, Lord Aizen was showing everyone how he was going to separate his soul from his body, to find the new world, and he was going to come back and tell everyone. Because, you know, he believes we're all trapped in the world of the living." She said intensely, but Ichigo wasn't listening. Ichigo was staring out at the crowd again. Again, his eyes were on Rukia, leaving everything Orihime was saying unnoticed.

There Rukia was, sitting on a metal fold out chair, one leg crossed over the other. On the back of the chair was piece of plywood with 'SAVE US KING' written in black paint. Ichigo stared at Rukia, wishing he could smile as Rukia snatched a marker from the table next to her and carefully placed an 'H' after the 'S' on the sign, successfully making it read 'SHAVE US KING.'

"…but his soul never made it back." Ichigo was brought out of his thoughts when Orihime began stroking his chin. "So while I was at the hospital, and they confirmed his death, I heard his soul calling me. And I knew… I just knew I had to be with him." Ichigo frowned, but Orihime didn't notice, too engaged in her story. He didn't know how to feel. Upset, angry…relieved. He looked back to the chair Rukia was sitting in, now finding it empty save for the vandalized sign. "So I took the elevator to the hospital roof, and flew." Orihime closed her eyes, raising her hands in the air and sighed. Ichigo followed her hands up, staring at the sky. He could almost see Orihime, falling to her death with a smile on her face. A smile for the Aizen, and not for him.

Ichigo shut his eyes and stumbled, dizzy. Orihime was quick to grab his arms and still him.

"Kurosa-" She started but was interrupted by a loud gong. He looked over at the guard who had stopped them earlier, hitting a hanging metal plate with a rubber club, emitting the loud sound. Everyone else on the ground froze, looking up in awe.

It was obvious what was about to happen.

"Oh God," Orihime whispered. "Time flies with you Kurosaki-kun. Let's go, Lord Aizen's about to begin and this time, I know he's going to make it."

[–]

Ichigo walked outside, standing at the door and scanning the crowd until he saw someone he recognized. Ichigo noticed Urahara only a few feet away, and as he walked up to the older man, he saw him holding a happy Yoruichi in his arms.

"Forgive and forget, huh?"

"No, they forgive," Urahara said scratching the cat behind her ear. "But they don't forget." Looking around Urahara thought aloud, "What keeps happening to Jinta?"

"Is he with Rukia?" Ichigo questioned, scanning the crowd again.

"Last time I saw her, she was with that Aizen guy up there talking about going home and people in charge. The usual." Urahara said, shrugging.

"W-what did he tell her?" Ichigo asked hesitantly.

"He said 'I'm taking you all to a better place.' Asshole."

The gong rang again, making Ichigo and Urahara look up. There he was, Lord Aizen dressed in robes of white, cascading down to his ankles, with Orihime by his side. The people in the crowd raised their arms to him in worship.

"Don't be alarmed, my dear friends." He said into a microphone. Ichigo noticed the glasses were now gone and his hair was styled back, making him look much more handsome, but much more snake-like. "The vessel will die soon-" Ichigo let his eyes wonder, like always, finding Rukia, sitting lazily on a low wooden roof above a table. "-and the spirit will rise." Rukia noticed him, and waved. "The first time was only a test-" Rukia was waving her arms and mouthing something, something he couldn't make out. "-a precursor to the real thing."

"Why don't you just tell her?" Urahara asked with a knowing look.

"Tell her what?" Ichigo inquired, raising a brow.

"Tell her you love her." Urahara said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, Yoruichi purring as if in agreement.

"Don't be afraid when I leave-" Lord Aizen's voice echoed in the background of their conversation.

"You do, don't you?" Urahara asked, noticing that Ichigo was still watching Rukia.

"-for I will be back for you all."

"It's too far. She won't hear." Ichigo said lamely after a moment of contemplation. Urahara looked over at Rukia. She may have been a little ways away but she would have been able to hear them if they yelled. The look he gave Ichigo said just that too.

Suddenly the drum roll started and Ichigo was back to staring at Lord Aizen. He was holding a dagger, one that Orihime had just handed him. Lord Aizen held it up for everyone to see.

"What is he doing?" Urahara asked, frowning. Ichigo didn't know how to answer. Lord Aizen held the knife to his heart. "He's bluffing." Urahara said, staring at Ichigo like he wanted to laugh. "No one does that twice. You know how much it hurts."

Then suddenly, Lord Aizen pushed, the dagger going through his chest with a loud _shink_ that even Ichigo could hear. He stumbled a little, before falling to his knees. Orihime bent down beside him, pulling the knife out of his chest and holding it up for all to see, dripping in blood. Lord Aizen gasped, hands over the bleeding hole in his chest.

"Oh my God." Ichigo said as people around him awed, gasped, and murmured.

Urahara looked away, his face set in stone, pulling a little sliver lighter out of his pocket and muttering something into it. "Come right now, this son of a bitch is crazy." Ichigo heard him say.

Lord Aizen fell, dying as Orihime reached out for him, as if he was going to be okay. Then for the briefest of a second, the sun was blocked.

"Look everybody! There he is!" Orihime cried into the microphone, and pointed up into the sky where a man was descending on a parachute. Everyone looked up, stunned. "He's coming! He's coming! He's – _they're _coming?"

Two other parachutes joined the first. Ichigo turned to Urahara to ask what was happening, but found him gone. Then, men dressed in white landed on the ground, yelling orders for people to go home. Before anyone was able to react white busses and cars arrived, skidding along the dirt ground. They were shooing people away stating they were the 'P.I.C.'

"Please disperse immediately." One of them announced over the microphone they had taken from Orihime, as two other men in white carried away Lord Aizen's limp body.

"Ichigo!" Ichigo turned around when he felt someone grabbing him. It was Jinta. "Where's Rukia?"

"I don't know." Ichigo said looking around frantically. "I don't know what's going on."

Then he caught sight of Rukia's back, the petite girl talking to one of the men in the white vans.

"Where's Urahara?" Jinta asked, lost.

"I don't know," Ichigo called, walking away. "I'll be right back."

As he got closer to the car, he could see people being led into the back, Orihime being one of them. At the rear door of the car was Urahara, dressed in white while motioning for people to bring others. As much as this should have interested Ichigo, it didn't hold a candle to Rukia, now sitting in the passenger seat of the white car.

He caught up to the cars just as they were driving off. Rukia was at the window, calling his name through the glass.

"Ichigo! Ichigo! Wait, okay? I'll be back in five minutes!"

Ichigo watched her go, feeling a numb sensation running deep into his bones. He nodded mutely, giving a half-hearted wave as Rukia rode off.

[–]

It was dusk now, and everyone was gone but Ichigo. He had waited, like Rukia had asked of him. But it had been more than five minutes. Much more. It has been a few hours now, and the sun was beginning to set. But Ichigo sat and waited, fiddling his fingers as he stared down the dirt road she had left on. Because Rukia was going to come back.

…eventually.

Ichigo continued to sit, counting the seconds as he waited for the raven haired woman to come back to him, his mind empty of all thought other than her. Even after finally finding Orihime after all of this time, all he cared about was having Rukia back.

Slowly but surely, headlights started coming his way. He perked up, watching as the dirt road lit with the headlights of a car. The closer the car got though; he realized it wasn't the car Rukia had driven off in, but Renji's crappy little yellow wagon.

He stood when the car parked in front of him. Not so surprisingly, Tatsuki was resident in the front seat.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ichigo asked as Renji opened the door, leaning over the frame.

Renji shrugged. "We're here to pick you up, man." The red head said.

"Did Rukia tell you what happened?" Ichigo inquired, hoping that Rukia was back at camp.

"No," Renji shook his head sadly. "Jinta did."

Ichigo's shoulders sagged slightly. "So, Rukia didn't go back with them?"

"No."

Ichigo frowned. "Did he mention anything about her?" He asked hopefully, but that hope died when Renji again shook his head to the negative.

"Not to me."

"Then I have to wait here for her." Ichigo said stubbornly, sitting back down on the dirt ground.

"How long are you gonna wait?" Renji asked, looking around the abandoned castle. "She's an adult. She can find her way back."

"I'm not moving," Ichigo repeated, scowling. Renji gave an aggravated sigh, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it to take a long drag. Ichigo glanced over to the passenger seat of the car, noticing Tatsuki sitting there with a slight frown on her face, nodding towards the back seat, trying to get him to come in.

"Get in the car dickhead." Renji bit out in frustration, hitting the car door to prove his point. "We got a train to make." He jerked his head to the back before sitting back down, slamming the door closed.

"Train-"

"Get in!"

Ichigo sighed, finally relenting and opening the back door to get in.

[–]

The three sat on the side of the train tracks around a small table, sharing a bottle of cider. They clunk their glasses together, downing the small, mismatched cups in one gulp.

"So, Urahara never did really kill himself." Ichigo more so stated than asked.

"No, of course not." Renji said as he poured himself another glass. "He's working for the people in charge. Undercover."

"I always had a feeling he was an angel or something." Ichigo said, looking up to the starless night.

"An angel? Come on." Renji chortled. "Now that Urahara blew his cover, he's being transferred out of the undercover unit."

"Transferred? Where's he going?" Ichigo asked.

"I don't know how it works…" Renji drifted off as lights headed their way.

Quickly, Renji got up, collecting the few bags they had. Ichigo turned his head to see a small, two seat cart rolling up on the tracks driven by a single, burly looking man in his late fifties. Tatsuki got up from her seat, instantly clinging to Renji's arm as the cart neared.

Walking Renji to the cart, Ichigo tried to finish their conversation. "So the camp is over?" He asked

"Turns out Urahara was running it illegally. And on P.I.C. property no less." Renji packed his bags into the back of the cart. "So, what you gonna do?"

"I don't know." Ichigo said handing Renji one of his suitcases before shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'm definitely going to go back to camp and wait for Rukia, but after that I guess I'll see."

"You'll see." Renji echoed, sighing. He turned to Ichigo, his eyes shining with sadness as he placed a hand on the orange haired man's shoulder. "I didn't want to tell you this but according to Jinta, in the middle of the hassle; Rukia talked to one of those P.I.C. guys and asked them to check her file." He paused, watching Ichigo's expression turn to one of despair. "I know it sounds crazy but, turns out there really was some kind of mistake. Looks like they'll be sending her back to life."

Ichigo stayed quiet, staring at his long-time friend as the dread filled his chest. What was he to say to that? There was nothing to say. Ichigo could feel a lump growing at the base of his throat, nearly choking him.

"It's better this way." Renji tried to comfort his friend. "At least now she's happy, right?"

"I guess," Ichigo agreed, swallowing the lump. "It's what she wanted so…"

Nodding, Renji dug his keys out of his pocket, placing them in Ichigo's palm. "Take care."

The conductor blew a whistle, signaling it was time for the train to take off. Tatsuki gave Ichigo a little hug goodbye before boarding. Renji stared up at Ichigo, looking like he was trying not to cry. Ichigo couldn't blame him. They were the first friends either had found here, and now they were saying goodbye for good. Renji sucked up his pride and pulled Ichigo into a tight hug, which Ichigo returned more than willingly.

"See ya man." Renji said boarding the train.

[–]

_They went North, or wherever it is that Tatsuki is from._

_He wanted to meet her family and get into that throat singing._

_Saw playing and weird interments and stuff. _

_It's good that he's back into music I guess._

[–]

Ichigo collected his bag from the abandoned camp sight. Yellow tape was up, with 'keep out' stamped in bold black letters, like police tape. He threw his bag into the back of Renji's – his car. Looking around Ichigo felt even more depressed. This camp, as run down and broken as it was, had always been filled with life, laughter, and family comfort. It had become a home that was now destroyed. It was lonely.

A white sign on a metal pole is what set him off though. It had the brand of the P.I.C. on it. A sign, Rukia's favorite thing to vandalize. Right then, Ichigo hated that sign. It was another reminder that Rukia was gone, and that he would never see her again.

Growling in anger, Ichigo kicked the pole as hard as he could, sending it and the sign over and falling to the ground. Still not satisfied, Ichigo ripped one of the yellow tapes and warning signs away, stomping on them before grunting and running both hands through his spiky orange hair, trying to calm down.

On a table he found a cigarette and a box of matches that were left behind in haste. Having nothing better to do and needing something to relieve his stress, he decided to smoke it. He was never big into smoking like Renji was, but at a moment like this he didn't care. He snatched the matches and nicotine sticks and pulled one out. He struck the match, lit the hand rolled cigarette and threw the match away, sucking in a long drag that burnt the hell out of his throat.

But the match did not fall. It floated higher and higher into the dark night sky. When Ichigo looked up, he could see the light from the match Rukia had thrown the other night. This dreary world's first ever star, now joined by a second one.

Ichigo stared up at it sadly. It was his first miracle…

[–]

_I think I finally understand what Urahara was trying to say._

_It only happens if it doesn't matter._

_Comes without effort._

_Maybe Renji's right. Maybe I only get stuck on girls I don't have a change of being with._

_I am glad for Rukia though. _

_I hope she got her whole visa all straightened out._

_She did say she'd be right back._

_Then again, Renji's old wisdom…_

_When a girl says she'll be right back, they never do come back. _

_So, I don't know. I'll figure it out. _

[–]

Ichigo found Renji's tape and put it in the little radio. His dubbed favorite song playing as he drove.

He had no destination this time. He wasn't searching for someone or helping another. He was alone, with no reason to drive other than to get home for a sense of familiarity. His head was spinning with everything that has happened, and it would be nice to get back to the depressing routine he had before all of this; even if it was just to distract him from his thoughts.

He was grateful for the radio. It made him feel less lonely in the empty car.

He drove for miles, driving all night long without a break, replaying his favorite song again and again.

When it felt like he was about to pass out, he came to a stop at a railroad track. The bell was ringing, warning that a train was about to pass by and that cars would have to wait. It didn't matter though. He was the only car on the road.

Suddenly, Renji's recorded voice jumped before slowing to a stop.

Ichigo scowled wearily and put the radio in his lap, pressing the button to open the cassette tape player. He took the tape out to check it but it was only in his hand for a second before he lost his hold and it fell under the passenger seat. He quickly dove after it, hoping it wouldn't have fallen into the hole. He felt around for it, his fingers meeting nothing but the floor of the car. When he couldn't find it he changed his tactic. He reached over the seat, to the leaver on the other side and lifted, causing the seat to slide back.

Once the seat was up, he didn't have a chance to look at the ground beneath it before suddenly something latched onto him and pulled him under.

[–]

The storage room was large, nice and organized; with boxes labeled accordingly for what they were used for. Within one of the rows labeled 'Suicides' stood a lone figure, his head whipping back and forth to make sure no one was looking as he grabbed one of the boxes labeled 'K.'

Urahara carefully skimmed through the files in the box, looking for a specific one he knew he wasn't assigned to be looking for, but his heart told him to anyways.

He could get in a lot of trouble for doing this, but he didn't care.

Pulling the file he was looking for out of the box, he opened it to find a couple feathers lingering about within it. He blew them away, staring at the grotesque picture of an orange haired young man lying on a bathroom floor with blood pooling around his wrists.

Urahara once again glanced around before closing the box and putting it back onto the shelf. He discreetly placed the file under his white coat, smiling slightly as he walked out of the aisle.

"Ichigo, you are one lucky son of a bitch." Urahara whispered to himself. "It's good to know people in high places, huh?"

[–]

When Renji had first told him that there was a black hole under the seat, Ichigo hadn't believed him. Of course, after seeing an uncountable amount of items disappear each day, his doubt had gone with them.

In all honesty, he had never expected to see those missing things again. They were lost forever and that was that.

But now, falling down the black hole himself, Ichigo recognized many of the fallen victims.

Renji's sunglasses that he had dropped.

The dead flowers that Rukia thought no one had noticed.

Cassette tapes, lipstick, and the map.

All of it.

He drifted, feeling weightless as he and all of the other items floated along the dark void. He couldn't believe what was happening. It had to be a dream, right?

Suddenly Ichigo could feel something tugging on the back of his shirt, and he began to drift a little faster in one direction. He couldn't see what it was that was pulling him, but it felt like a hand.

"Go get her," A familiar voice whispered in his ear before a blinding white light enveloped his whole world.

[–]

With a start, Ichigo opened his eyes, only to immediately close them again as a bright light shone upon them. Dazed and confused, he squinted against the lights and tried to focus. After a moment of letting his eyes adjust, he found the light coming from a lamp high above on a clean white ceiling.

He heard the buzzing of monitors and with the little strength he had he tried to sit up, only to find his body too weak to do so. He groaned, laying his head back onto the soft pillow. He lay there for a moment, trying to figure out what was happening, when he felt a dull ache from both his wrists. He lifted them, finding them bandaged tightly, IVs attached to the bends of his arms.

His eyes widened in shock. Where was he? Why was he bandaged up? The last thing he remembered he was floating…how had he gotten here?

Ichigo was in a hospital room, he now realized. He was…alive.

Had it all been a dream? Had he dreamt up that whole world in his sleep?

He looked around his room, trying to see if there was anyone around for him to talk to. There weren't any doctors or nurses, but there was someone else laying in a bed parallel to him. He frowned; unable to see the person's face, only their mess of raven…colored…hair…

Rukia_._

_It hadn't been a dream. _

Rukia stirred, turning her head slowly to the other side, facing Ichigo. When their eyes locked, her whole face lit with shock, just like his. They stared for what felt like the longest time, neither unable to speak as the realization hit them both.

They were alive.

And they were together.

Rukia's eyes began to moisten, her lips curving into a bright, happy smile. It was the first time Ichigo had ever seen her smile, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life.

For the first time in a very long time, Ichigo was able to smile back.

* * *

**Tear-jerking, right? Right?**

**I had a lot of fun writing this story. I loved the movie, and I just knew I had to write this for all of you. As some of you pointed out this story was much more similar to the movie than _Potentia De Mens_ was to _Chronicle_, and there actually was a reason to that. _Potentia De Mens_ was a full length story, so I had much more room to play with different ideas and the such. But this was just a three-shot, so I couldn't really deviate THAT much. And plus it's also my way of showing you that you should definitely see this movie. Not everything was the same, so if you want to see what was changed you need to go see the movie!**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this story, and I hope you will see the movie as well. I personally feel it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves so the more of you who go see it the better. **

**Thank you all for reading this!**

**REVIEW!**


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